


Black Valentine

by tsuki_llama



Series: Distractions [7]
Category: Darker Than Black
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuki_llama/pseuds/tsuki_llama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Valentine's Day, and Misaki hopes to spend a romantic evening with her lover. But crime doesn't stop just because it's a holiday, and when your lover is an assassin, even valentines are complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Misaki relaxed on the sofa in a comfy shirt and pajama shorts, with a glass of wine in her hand, idly flipping through channels on the television. So far, nothing had caught her attention. She didn't watch TV consistently enough to be able to follow any serial dramas, and those game shows were so silly and over the top. She sighed; she'd promised herself that she wouldn't do any work this weekend, no matter what - she'd purposefully left her laptop and all her files at the office. But if there was nothing to watch on TV, she just didn't know what else she would do with her time. Maybe she could order out and find a movie; but she did that last night. Or perhaps read a book; there was a stack sitting on her bedside table that she'd been meaning to get through.

She paused in her channel-changing long enough to take a sip of wine. The television had landed on a news station. Misaki frowned; the lead story was on the recent 'outbreak' of amnesia in the city, with nearly two dozen cases being reported in the past month. There was no known cause, no connection between any of the patients. Even the length of time lost was different, with some people losing days, some weeks or even months. A family member of one of the patients had posted about his relative on a website, looking for answers; the media had picked it up, discovered the other strange cases, and run with it. By the time Section 4 had got wind of the story, it was too late to undo the damage.

Well, there wasn't any damage _yet_. No one was talking about ME - Misaki was sure that it must be unauthorized use of the technology - but it was only a matter of time before something classified was leaked. The worst part was, Section 4 couldn't use ME to modify the memories of those involved - that would just fan the flames of rumor even higher. She didn't know how they were going to get ahead of this thing.

 _No work tonight_ , she mentally scolded herself.

She was just about to turn off the television and go find a book to read when her cell phone buzzed. She looked at the text from Kanami: _You busy tonight?_

 _Not really,_ she typed, then hit send. A moment later she added, _Unless you_ _'re hunting for a clubbing buddy - then yes, I am so busy._

Kanami sent back a pouty-face emoji, and Misaki smiled.

Either Kanami wasn't looking for someone to hit the clubs with after all, or she'd decided that it wasn't worth the effort of persuading Misaki, because she showed up at Misaki's apartment a quarter hour later in an old hoodie and yoga pants.

"Oh no," Misaki said. "Don't tell me you're having problems with Shinji again?" The yoga pants were a tell-tale sign of an impending breakup. It was a little strange though; she hadn't realized that Kanami was so attached to this guy.

Her friend shrugged, stepping into the apartment and kicking off her shoes. "Yeah, I called it off after he stood me up last night."

"Again? And wait, not _last_ night?"

"Yep." Kanami deposited the canvas bag that she was carrying on the coffee table. "Valentine's, of all nights."

Misaki didn't care much about greeting card holidays like Valentine's Day, but Kanami enjoyed things like that. She pictured herself punching Shinji squarely in the jaw, ruining that flashy smile of his. It felt good to imagine, even if she would never actually do it.

Misaki settled back onto the sofa, Kanami sitting down beside her. "Well, you'd only been going out for what, a month?" Misaki said. "And he's canceled or not shown up to half your dates already - better you find out what he's really like and drop him now, rather than after you've started to get serious."

Kanami grinned at her. "I can always trust you to put things into perspective," she said. Despite the yoga pants, she seemed to be dealing with the breakup well. Misaki was a little curious as to why she hadn't just called to chat over the phone.

"I hope that that bag isn't full of alcohol," she indicated the bag on the table, "because Shinji isn't worth it. And I've had a glass of wine already tonight."

"Not booze, don't worry. My mom was cleaning out her storage cupboard yesterday, and she found this." Kanami reached into the bag and pulled out an old Super Nintendo system. "I thought it might be fun to try it out."

"Oh my god, I haven't played that in years! Probably not since…" Misaki trailed off at the memory. Her friend's smile was strained, and she realized that the breakup with Shinji had just been an excuse. Sometimes Kanami needed to talk things out; sometimes she just needed company while she worked through something on her own. This seemed to be the latter situation. "Well, it's been a long time. What games do you have?"

The two women pushed the coffee table out of the way so that they could sit on the floor in front of the sofa and hooked the Nintendo system up to the TV. Misaki dug through the canvas bag until she found her favorite game. The antiquated graphics looked terrible on the high definition screen, but the game was exactly the same as she remembered. Funny how you could not think once about something for years, only to have every detail suddenly come flooding back in perfect clarity. Even the feel of the plastic controller was familiar in her hands.

"Ha!" Misaki exclaimed as her go-kart sped across the finish line in first place, again. Kanami trailed in at fifth.

"You haven't touched this game in ten years, how are you still so good at it?" Kanami complained good-naturedly. "I knew I should have practiced before coming over." She picked up the remote and turned down the annoying victory music. "So, what did you and Li do for Valentine's? I need to hear that there's still romance in the world," she said with a melodramatic sigh.

Misaki shrugged and selected another race course. "Nothing. He had to work."

"What? But Ootsuka told me that you took the evening off. I can't even remember the last time you took a personal day - I was sure you guys must have had big plans."

"Well, I did tell him that I was taking the night off; I thought maybe he could come over a little early and we could have dinner. But his schedule isn't very predictable." For some reason, she felt the need to defend Hei. He probably didn't even know that it was Valentine's Day; and if he did, there was no reason for him to think that it would mean anything to her. Because it didn't. "It's not a big deal - neither of us is really the romantic type, anyway."

She tried not to think about the refrigerator that she'd stocked full of ingredients for him to cook them a nice dinner, or the cherry blossom-scented candles that she'd bought. Instead of going to bed at a decent time, she'd found a marathon of cheesy romance movies to watch while she waited for him, until she'd finally fallen asleep on the sofa. Silly of her.

"His schedule with his _other_ job, you mean?" Kanami gave her a knowing look - though she still didn't know the half of it - and Misaki shrugged again, keeping her eyes on the game. "Tonight's your normal night off, right? Is he coming over?"

"I don't know; I haven't talked to him in a couple of days. It's not like I can call him and discuss it -"

"Because the phones might be tapped?"

She couldn't tell if Kanami was being facetious or serious. "Because he doesn't have a phone," Misaki finished pointedly. But because she always had trouble lying to her friend, she added, "And it would be too risky for him to call me. Because the phones might be tapped. Better to be cautious." She didn't really believe that anyone would be listening in on her phone calls, but Hei refused to take the risk, so she humored him.

"Sometimes I really envy the two of you, because you're so great together," Kanami mused. "And then I remember the circumstances, and wonder if any relationship is worth that kind of trial. He still makes you happy?"

Misaki smiled. "Yes. It isn't exactly easy, but for me, it's worth it."

"So has he said the 'L' word yet?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "It's not that kind of relationship. And he's kind of…reticent, when it comes to expressing feelings, anyway." And what would it mean for a contractor to talk about love? Misaki didn't doubt that Hei's feelings for her were genuine; but no matter how human he seemed, he was still a contractor. Contractors had emotions - they just based their decisions off of cold, rational self interest instead.

Kanami paused the game, forcing Misaki to pay attention to what she was saying. "Misaki, it's never going to _be_ 'that kind of relationship' if you don't talk to each other about things like that. If he's reluctant to say it, why don't you - and don't you dare tell me that you're _not_ completely in love with him."

Misaki stared down at the gray game controller in her hands, and realized that she was gripping it so hard that her knuckles were white. "I can't love him," she said. "Because if I love him, I have to lose him."

"What does that mean?"

How could she explain this in a way that made sense? "Eventually, he's going to be transferred out of Tokyo. Or maybe he'll be arrested. He's starting to talk about leaving his organization, but I don't know how he can, without having to go into hiding. Whatever happens, whether it's voluntary or not, he's going to leave me." She willed her hands to relax their death grip on the controller. "If this is just a fling, a temporary love affair, then when it's over it's over, and I'll move on with my life. If I love him…it'll be too hard to bear."

Without warning, Kanami threw her arms around Misaki, enveloping her in a stifling hug. "Kanami? I'm okay…"

"I just want you to be happy," Kanami sniffed.

Misaki sighed, and returned her friend's squeeze. "This isn't about me and Li, is it. Or Shinji."

Kanami let go of her and sat back, wiping her eye. "No, I guess not. I haven't thought about Miko in years; then I saw that stupid thing" she nudged the Nintendo with her foot "this morning, on top of Shinji's b.s., and it all just hit me at once. Life kinda sucks sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah. I know."

Kanami stayed for another hour; they played old Nintendo games and abused Kanami's newly-ex boyfriend. By the time she got up to leave, her melancholy seemed to have mostly lifted.

"Thanks for the diversion," she said, giving Misaki a warm hug. "Today was a pretty crappy day, but I feel better now. Hang on to the games for me for a while, will you?"

"Sure."

Kanami paused in the doorway on her way out. "Say," she said thoughtfully, "does Li have a brother? Or a sister, I'm not picky."

Misaki laughed. "Maybe that's your problem."

"Yeah, maybe." Kanami gave her a rueful grin, then headed out.

Misaki re-hung her scarf in the bedroom window - she'd taken it down when Kanami had asked to come over - then settled back onto the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her to play some more. Probably there wasn't any point in hanging up the signal this late; if Hei had stopped by earlier, he would have seen her light on and no scarf, and gone home. She doubted that he would stick around to see if anything changed.

Or maybe her friend's melancholy mood had just rubbed off on her a bit. The past was depressing; but so were thoughts about the future. She was usually successful at not dwelling on her situation with Hei, but tonight she couldn't get her conversation with Kanami out of her mind.

After about an hour of attempting to distract herself with the video game, Misaki was ready to call it quits and go to bed - when she heard the door to her balcony slide open. She turned to see the Black Reaper enter, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm not going to get called to a crime scene later tonight, am I?" she asked as he dropped his jacket and weapons harness onto the sofa.

Hei folded his legs and sat down next to her, hip pressing warmly against hers. "I thought it was your night off."

"It is. But I'll still get a call if something big or particularly messy happens. Or if it involves you."

The corners of his mouth turned up in a slightly amused smile. "You've never even been aware of half the jobs I've done here; you won't hear about this one."

Damn it, now her curiosity was piqued. She bit her lip in an attempt to prevent herself from asking him about it. But he surprised her when he said, "I broke into an electronic safe. No one saw me. I had to use my ability several times to get past all the security checks, but I doubt it was enough to register in your system."

"What did you take?"

"Nothing."

When Misaki raised an eyebrow, he added, "My instructions were to leave something."

"Leave something? What was it?"

He shrugged, and his fingers trailed along the inside of her thigh, leaving tingling goosebumps in their wake. "I don't know."

That was probably true. Misaki was beginning to notice that if he didn't want to answer a question, he would stay silent rather than lie to her. If he said that he didn't know, it was because he didn't. Would he tell where this safe was?

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking up at the TV screen and forestalling her question. His hand was still stroking her skin with that torturous light touch of his.

"What? Oh - playing Mario Kart. Kanami brought it over earlier." At his blank look, she said, "Didn't you have a Nintendo when you were growing up?" The gaming system had been ubiquitous in Japan during the 90s.

"No. I knew a kid at school who did, but I don't think I ever played on it more than once or twice."

And then of course, his childhood had been cut short. Misaki could have kicked herself for being so insensitive, but Hei didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

"Want to learn?" she asked. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow, and Misaki grinned. "Come on, it's fun."

She showed him how to work the controls, then reset the game and pulled up an easy race course. Hei learned quickly; his hand-eye coordination was excellent (which came as no surprise), and after a couple of rounds he was finishing every race in second or third place. Right behind her. Misaki wondered with a flash of irritation whether he was letting her win - but she decided that, no, he simply wasn't that competitive. Certainly not enough to try and beat her.

The game was boring without competition. But maybe if he had an incentive…

"Care to make this interesting?" she asked in her best attempt at a seductress' voice.

Hei turned a slight frown on her. "Interesting?"

For a moment his confusion confused _her_ , but then she realized the problem. She was always forgetting that Japanese wasn't his native language - he spoke it so well, and when he was being himself with her, his exaggerated Chinese accent faded as to be barely noticeable. Even so, he wasn't completely fluent, and occasionally an idiom or piece of slang would throw him.

"A bet," Misaki explained. "Best of five wins; winner gets to have his or her way with the loser."

His eyes darkened perceptibly, and she knew that he understood _that_ expression. "Alright."

She switched the game to the dueling battle mode, and Hei's attitude immediately switched from laid-back to intense. That intensity, especially when directed towards her... She wet her lips, and forced herself to focus on the game.

Misaki was by far the better driver, and she won the first round easily. It was almost disappointing; irritation at the thought that he was still letting her win slipped back into her mind.

But she shouldn't have worried. She also shouldn't have expected a contractor to play by the rules; with so much at stake, Hei played dirty. During the second round, his foot would casually brush against hers every time she was about to take a shot at him, making her jump and miss. It also made her determined to end the game as soon as possible - those little touches and suggestive brushes sent her blood coursing through her veins, and she couldn't wait to get him into bed. She scooted over a few inches, out of easy reach, before they began the third round. He gave her an amused look, but didn't comment.

Misaki's strategy was always to find a good power-up with which to arm herself, then track down her opponent and shoot. Hei, on the other hand, _stalked_ her, and it was almost as terrifying as if she'd been alone and unarmed in a dark alley somewhere in the city. He laid traps for her around the corners he knew she liked to take; he followed right on her tail with a turtle shell but wouldn't shoot, unnerving her until she would make a mistake and then he would strike. He toyed with her.

By the fifth game they were tied, two and two. Misaki narrowed her eyes as she focused intently on the screen, heart pounding. Her kart only had one balloon left - but so did Hei's. She was armed with a target-locking red shell; Hei only had a green. "Where are you…?" she muttered, mostly to herself, stealing glances up at his half of the screen. Every time she thought that she had him pinned down, he would disappear on her. Wait, there he was, lurking over in the blue zone. She would sneak up from behind, and as soon as he reached an open area, she'd have him.

Misaki made a beeline for the blue section of the course, paralleling his path; then she zipped into the gap between the color zones and took a hard corner, swinging into the middle lane -

And came face-to-face with Hei. Before she could react, he shot her last balloon. Her kart spun out as Misaki stared in shock, the animated character weeping in grainy melodrama.

She slowly set her controller down with sweating hands, then turned and gazed up into his dark eyes. He looked even _more_ intense now; a shiver of nervous anticipation ran down her spine.

"Anything?" Hei asked, his voice low and heavy as he carefully removed her glasses and set them gently on the sofa behind her.

Misaki bit her lip to keep from grinning stupidly. She nodded.

He leaned in close, so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his skin, and it was only with great force of will that Misaki prevented herself from reaching up and pulling him into a fierce kiss. He'd won; he would decide whether she kissed him, and when. "You'll stop me if I go too far?"

Too far? _Impossible_. She nodded again, her breath catching as he cupped her face in his calloused hand, thumb stroking her cheekbone. Misaki closed her eyes blissfully. She didn't need candles, or flowers, or romance. She just needed Hei.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

"I never knew losing could feel so good." Misaki exhaled in rosy exhaustion as she pressed her flushed face into the pillow.

Hei collapsed onto the bed beside her with a contented sigh. "You didn't lose on purpose, did you?" he said, stroking her back.

She giggled. "The idea did cross my mind. But no, you won fair and square."

He ran his hand along the curve of her waist, then gently rubbed her upper arm. "How are your shoulders?"

"Fine." She tensed and then relaxed the muscles of her upper back: they were warm and wonderfully loose, no pain or stiffness at all. Her lover knew what he was doing. Nonetheless, Hei sat up and, pressing his thumbs into the base of her neck, began massaging her, slowing working his way down her back. Misaki moaned with pleasure into the pillow. When he reached her waist, his hands moved to her wrists.

"Mm, not yet," Misaki murmured before he could start loosening the cord of the game controller that bound her arms securely behind her back. Her grip on the controller itself was lax now, but she was a little concerned that she would find it twisted and broken in the morning.

He paused in surprise, his hands resting on hers. "More?"

"The score is two to four; you have some catching up to do." She was utterly spent, but she felt as if they needed to make up for lost time. Last night, to be specific.

"I don't mind losing _this_ game." He sounded amused; but he pulled her up into a sitting position in front of him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Not as close as she would have liked - her arms were between them, and she took the opportunity to lightly tickle his stomach with her fingertips. His breath caught, and she giggled again.

"Do you need to take a break to pay your price?"

Hei grazed her earlobe with his teeth. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" She was going to find out what his payment was eventually, damn it. It had to be really embarrassing, for him to be so unwilling to let her see.

"Still trying to guess?" He hesitated for a moment, then said softly in her ear, "I'll tell you, if you ask."

Her pulse picked up. "You will? But…why now, when you haven't before?"

"Misaki, you've never actually asked me. Besides, you probably already know what it is. You just haven't realized it yet."

She hadn't asked, had she. She laughed, filing away his second comment for later examination. "That's okay; I like trying to figure it out." Knowing that he was willing to tell her was so much important than actually knowing what it was…and she did enjoy guessing.

Hei brushed her long mass of hair to the side and trailed tender kisses down her neck. She struggled to keep the tide of pleasure from rising and carrying her away. This was supposed to be for him, but if he was going to keep caressing her like this until he was ready again, he was never going to catch up.

"You don't play fair," she whispered.

"Did you expect me to?"

Her breath hitched at the delicate touch of his fingers. It was such torture to be restrained and at the mercy of that touch, and she loved it. She closed her eyes, her heart racing, and -

_BANGBANGBANGBANG!_

Misaki's eyes snapped open and Hei's entire body tensed behind her.

The pounding came again, and Misaki realized that it was someone beating on the front door. A muffled voice called, " _Chief! Are you there? Chief!_ "

"What the… _Saitou?"_

Hei cursed under his breath - rare for him - and rolled off the bed. Before Misaki had even finished processing what was happening, he had his pants back on and was kneeling behind her again, picking at the cord binding her wrists. She felt the blood rush to her face at the realization of her situation.

More urgent thumping - more shouting - the sound of the door handle being jiggled. Hei swore, having trouble with his own knots. "Where's my knife?" he muttered.

Misaki's mind was blank with panic. "I don't know. Just -

_BANGBANGBANG!_

"Go open the door before he breaks it down!" she gasped out. To his credit, Hei didn't pause to protest or to ask if she was sure. He slid off the mattress and darted out of the room, leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar.

Misaki twisted her hands in their bindings, sweat beading on her forehead. Hei had gotten the knot a little loose, she might be able to work it out herself. What the hell was Saitou doing here? _Now_ , of all times?

She heard the next round of pounding abruptly cut off as Hei pulled the door open, and Saitou's voice drifted down the hall.

"Who - Li? Where's the chief? What are you doing here?"

A coughing laugh, and a second voice said, "Seems pretty obvious…"

 _Oh god, Kouno too?_ Misaki redoubled her efforts, her heart pounding in her chest. _Almost_ …

"Where's the chief, we need to see her right away!" Saitou sounded desperate; what was going on? Her sweating fingers managed to push the connector through a loop and the knot fell apart, the cord slipping from her wrists. She shook it off and scrambled from the bed. Clothes, she needed clothes.

Hei said in the hesitant voice of Li, "Uh, she's sort of tied up right now. If you wait a moment I'll go get -"

"I don't care if she's busy, it can't wait!" Saitou's voice was coming closer. Misaki frantically pushed aside the crumpled duvet and retrieved her underwear from the floor. Well, there was Hei's knife; she felt her face growing redder at the very recent memories that that knife evoked. Her shirt - damn it, her shirt was out in the living room. Shit, so were her glasses. She dug desperately through the hamper.

When Hei spoke again, it sounded as if he was right outside the bedroom. "Actually, I meant that literally -"

"I'll be right out, just give me a minute!" Misaki shouted. She didn't know who she was going to murder first, Saitou or Hei.

She finally found a shirt and a pair of shorts and threw them on, then hurried out of the bedroom. Hei was standing in the entrance to the hall, one arm extended to casually lean against the wall, effectively blocking Saitou's path. Despite being shorter and slimmer than the other man, not to mention only half-dressed, his posture was that of confident assurance - nothing at all like Li - and Saitou was obviously hesitant about trying to get past him. Kouno hovered awkwardly in the background.

"What is it?" Misaki snapped, ducking under Hei's arm to face her subordinate; Hei relaxed a little and moved into the living room.

She couldn't see Saitou's expression clearly, but she hoped that he was even more embarrassed than she was.

"U-um," he stammered, face red, and she crossed her arms, waiting.

Hei returned to her side, with her glasses. "Thanks." Misaki gave him an embarrassed smile and put them on; the room finally swam into focus. She saw with relief that her bra was nowhere in sight, and Hei's black coat was covering his knives.

Saitou turned his head to watch Hei as he retreated back to the living room and settled down on the floor in front of the sofa. "Chief, what's he doing here?" he asked, suspicion in his voice. Misaki couldn't help but wonder if he still had a trace of that memory of the night in the dockyard, where he had seen the Black Reaper without his mask.

She hesitated, trying to figure out how to answer gracefully, but Hei spoke up first. "Playing Mario Cars," he said dryly, picking up the lone controller and gesturing to the TV, which they had left on.

"Kart," Misaki corrected, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

"Right. That."

Saitou's brow furrowed.

"Don't worry about him," Misaki said tersely. "What is so important that you had to come breaking down my door, without even calling first?"

"We did try to call," Kouno put in. "It went straight to voice mail."

"What?" She'd never heard her phone ring…. Misaki glanced around the room and spotted it sitting on the coffee table. She walked over and picked it up, flipping it open. The screen was black.

Guilt knotted in her stomach. "Damn; my battery died. I'm sorry - what's going on? You can talk in front of Li." She waved her hand in his general direction. It was breaking all kinds of protocol, letting a civilian overhear what might be classified information, but right at this moment, she didn't care. And in any case, she trusted him.

"The Director received a tip earlier tonight - there's been a threat against your life."

Misaki suppressed a shiver of fear at Saitou's words. She'd had death threats before; usually they were nothing. "Right. What do we know?" she asked, striding over to her purse on the table by the door and removing her gun. She checked the clip, then strapped the holster on over her shirt.

"Professional hit," Kouno said. The way he emphasized _professional_ , she was sure that he meant _contractor_. "It's supposed to happen sometime tonight."

"They probably know where you live," Saitou said worriedly. "We need to get you to a safe location."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hei - his attention supposedly fixed on the game - shake his head slightly. She grasped his meaning at once. "No," she said. "A car is too exposed. It'll be safer here; we'll have the advantage on familiar ground."

Kouno nodded in agreement; Saitou didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue. "Li should leave though," he said. "It'll be harder to protect an extra person."

Misaki turned to Hei. He set down the controller and rested his arms on his knees. "I'll go if you want me to," he said quietly, meeting her eyes with a sincere expression. "But if you don't mind, I'd rather stay."

She smiled in pleased relief. He would risk exposing his identity, just to make sure she was safe. "I don't mind; thank you."

Misaki turned back to her men, and gave them a look that dared them to protest. They didn't. "Do we know any other details? Who this assassin is, how they might be armed?"

"Yeah," Kouno said with a frown. "It's BK-201."

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

"BK-201?" Misaki repeated dumbly.

"That's what the intel says," Kouno said, voice low. Hei had returned to the game and was making a good show of ignoring them completely; but she was sure that he was listening. "He was active earlier tonight; about fifteen minutes before we arrived, Astronomics called to say that they'd picked up low levels of activity from his star, somewhere here in Shinjuku."

By the sofa, Hei shifted slightly. Misaki was starting to feel a little sick to her stomach. "Were they able to narrow down the location?" she asked. When Kouno shook his head, she gave a tiny sigh of relief.

Saitou's face appeared to be etched with permanent worry; he glanced uncertainly at 'Li'. "When you didn't answer the door right away, we thought…" he trailed off.

"That he was already here?" Misaki finished for him. "Well obviously he's _not_ here, so there was no need to panic. The question that we need to focus on is, why kill me?"

Saitou frowned. "He's tried to kill you before; it's not surprising that he would try again."

"Don't be stupid." The words came out harsher than she'd meant them to be. "If he'd wanted to kill me before, I'd be dead. Besides, we're talking about a contractor - personal feelings don't enter into their decisions. If BK-201 is planning on killing me, it's because he was ordered to."

The thought made her stomach turn. Hei _wasn_ _'t_ going to kill her, contractor or not - she knew that with a certainty. But he couldn't just ignore his orders, not without serious repercussions. Why hadn't he told her about this? They could have figured it out together.

She crossed her arms, her brow furrowing in thought. "Setting aside the identity of the assassin for now - why would his employers want me dead?"

Both men looked at her blankly. "Uh," Kouno said, "shouldn't we worry about the 'why' _after_ dealing with, you know, the fact that there's an assassin on his way here to kill you?"

"Maybe we'll manage to arrest him - then he'll talk," Saitou said, an uncharacteristically dark cast to his expression. Hei raised an eyebrow at the detective, but said nothing.

Damn - of course they wouldn't understand why she wasn't at all concerned about a threat against her life. This particular threat, anyway. She did her best not to glance towards the assassin in question, who was currently sitting in front of her sofa playing Nintendo.

"I'm just trying to think things through," she fudged. "It may make bargaining easier, if we understand the situation."

"Maybe they're afraid you're getting too close to finding out who they are?" Saitou said.

He was looking at a point just behind her shoulder; Misaki realized that he hadn't met her eyes once. Self-consciously, she pulled her hair back into a semblance of her usual ponytail; but without a hair tie, it just hung loose.

"But I'm not." Knowing the identity of BK-201 was not at all the same thing as knowing who he worked for - she was no closer now on that front than she had ever been.

"Could be they're worried that you saw too much at the dockyard last week," Kouno suggested.

"But I didn't see anything - that's in my report."

The two men shook their heads, out of ideas.

It didn't make any sense. Of course, she _had_ been witness to everything that had happened in the dockyard, but Hei was the only one who knew it; he wouldn't have told his employers.

"That was a whole week ago," she said slowly, still trying to wrap her head around the problem. "If they're worried about what I might have seen, why wait so long to do something about it?"

"A week isn't that long," Saitou said. "How much time does it take to plan an assassination?"

Misaki had no answer to that. She turned helplessly to Hei before she could stop herself.

To her surprise, he sighed and set down the controller, abandoning all pretense of playing the game. "For someone like you…a week is excessive." He shrugged apologetically.

Saitou gave a grim laugh. "Li, you aren't exactly an expert on how killers work."

They both ignored that; Misaki tried not to feel insulted by Hei's words. Because he was right - while she _was_ normally careful and vigilant, she didn't live her day-to-day life expecting to be killed at any moment. She could put up a good fight when confronted, but a contractor - especially a contractor like BK-201 - who caught her off guard wouldn't find her much of a challenge. Even if she hadn't been sleeping with him.

Misaki had seen him three times since that night in the dockyard, and he'd said nothing about it. "A whole week?" she asked him quietly.

Hei's brow was slightly creased in confusion - but there was sincerity in his eyes as he met her gaze. "This is the first I'm hearing of it."

It could have been just wishful thinking on her part, but Misaki was sure that he was telling the truth. She relaxed a little at the knowledge.

"It's supposed to happen tonight?" Hei asked, directing his question at Saitou.

"Why _would_ you hear anything about this?" When Hei didn't respond, her subordinate turned to Misaki questioningly. She waited, arms crossed, and finally Saitou said, "Yes, tonight. Sometime between midnight and dawn."

"It's just midnight now," Kouno commented, casting a nervous glance at the door.

Misaki perched on the edge of the sofa next to the coat-covered knives, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and combed through it with her fingers distractedly. On the floor in front of her, Hei pulled something out of his pocket and passed it up to her. A hair tie. She smiled at him, and tied her hair back.

He reached over as if to touch her leg, but hesitated before lowering his hand again. Misaki kicked his thigh. "Are we going to have to go through this every time our paths cross professionally?" she snapped. She was tired, and confused, and her stomach was still unsettled by everything that had happened already tonight. It irritated her that he would think she wouldn't welcome his touch, just because she knew he'd been ordered to kill her.

He gave her a grateful look, and placed his hand on her foot, giving it a comforting squeeze. As much as she hated to appear so vulnerable in front of her subordinates, his touch always had a calming effect on her, and she needed to stay calm right now.

"If you came straight here after your last job, you must have missed your orders," she said quietly, low enough that her men would have trouble hearing. She hoped, anyway. "I guess we have a few hours to figure this out."

She didn't relish the prospect of sitting there until dawn, pretending to be expecting BK-201 to attack at any moment, all the while unable to talk to Hei about it. She expected that he would enjoy it even less. But she didn't see any other option.

Although, if the contractor coming to kill her was _Hei_ , there was no reason for him to stay. She was about to suggest that he go home and get some sleep, wondering how to phrase it so he wouldn't feel hurt, when he spoke up.

"I said I wouldn't need a week," he told her, "but such short notice is…strange."

"Strange how?"

Hei was silent for a moment as he thought, absently caressing her foot. He cast a wary look at Saitou and Kouno, then he said, "I'm usually given a day or two to plan. Longer if security is tight or there's something tricky about it. I wouldn't get orders for a job that's so rushed unless the timing was important. And I can't think of why it would be."

Misaki considered, frowning. "I can't think of why either. I'm not in the middle of any kind of pressing case, I'm not on the verge of an important discovery - nothing is happening tomorrow to make my being killed tonight a necessity. And anyway, it's been a week since the dockyard - if I saw anything they want me to keep quiet about, well, it's too late - I could have told anyone by now. You're right, it doesn't make sense." She took a deep breath, then asked the question that she didn't want to ask: "Do you think…they know?"

Hei's grip on her foot tightened a bit. "If they do," he said slowly, "why not just kill us both?"

"A test, for you?"

"Maybe," he said, but the doubt in his voice was clear. "But why such a short window of time?"

"Wait," Saitou interrupted; Misaki had almost forgotten that he was there. "Why is Li talking like _he_ _'s_ involved in this?"

Misaki waved his question away - she had no idea what the hell else to do - and said to Hei, "So what do you think?"

His eyes were narrowed very slightly, a sure sign that he was worried. "I think your intel is wrong."

"And no one's been ordered to kill me?"

"That." He shrugged, but there was a dangerous look on his face. "Or…someone has, and it isn't me."

"Hang on," Kouno said, eyes wide and glancing between Hei and Misaki. "Is he saying what it sounds like he's saying?"

Saitou made a strangled sound, his hand darting beneath his jacket for his gun. "Chief! Get away from him!"

"Put that away!" Misaki ordered. Shit, this was going to get out of control.

Her subordinate reluctantly replaced his weapon in its holster; but he didn't remove his hand from the grip. "Chief, it's Li - he was in the dockyard, I remember it now!"

Hei had released her foot and was slowly moving his hand away, but Misaki reached down and grasped his shoulder. To reassure him - or herself? "Saitou, I know," she said.

Saitou was staring at her as if she'd gone completely mad. "But he's BK-201 - he's here to kill you!"

"Obviously, he isn't, or he would have done it when you two were knocking down my door!" she snapped. This wasn't going well.

"So, earlier, when he said you were tied up…"

Misaki shot Kouno a glare, and wisely, he did not finish his sentence.

"But he was using his power right before we arrived," Saitou pressed; he still hadn't let go of his gun. Kouno arched an eyebrow at that, and Misaki felt her face heat.

"You can just kill me now," she murmured to Hei, who gave an embarrassed snort.

She rubbed her temple, mentally willing the queasiness in her stomach to go away. "Look," she said to the room at large, "yes, I know that Li is BK-201 - he's here with my consent. He says he doesn't have orders to kill me, and I believe him. He says that our intel may be wrong - and I believe that too. I know it's a lot to ask, but I need you to believe me when I tell you that he isn't a threat, to me or to you."

Kouno was looking a little anxious, but he nodded. Misaki turned to Saitou; the detective grudgingly relinquished his gun. "He almost killed me in the dockyard," he said, glaring at Hei.

Misaki took a deep breath. "No, he didn't. He just erased your memory so that you wouldn't know his identity. He had my permission to do it." Her grudging permission - but her permission nonetheless.

"Nothing personal," Hei added coolly.

She wondered at his tone; he wasn't the type to be insulted by something like Saitou's perfectly reasonable reaction. Unless…she did talk a lot about how much she trusted Saitou, and was glad that he had her back. Was Hei jealous at her subordinate's protectiveness of her? The thought would have pleased her more if it weren't for Saitou's betrayed expression.

"You should probably head back to your place," she told Hei. "I know you don't think that you have orders waiting, but what if you do? We need to know."

"And if I don't? If it's someone else coming to kill you?"

Misaki met his gaze steadily. "Then we'll handle it. I have Saitou and Kouno; we aren't exactly novices at dealing with contractors." She gave him a small smile, but he didn't return it.

"You'll be safer if I'm here," he told her quietly.

She wished that she could agree to him staying; but rationally speaking, it just wasn't a good idea. "Maybe I would be safer," she said. "Or maybe having one extra person in such a small apartment will lead to more people getting hurt. And if you use your power against another contractor, it'll be a dead giveaway that you were here when you shouldn't have been."

The look he gave her was almost sullen. "I have my knives."

"You know I'd never forgive you if you killed a person in my own apartment!" she warned. She didn't like the idea of him taking a life to protect her, at all. He hated killing, and for her to be the reason that he did it…the thought left a sour taste in her mouth. "This is part of my job - you need to let me do it."

Hei looked like he wanted to argue more, but he didn't. Instead, his eyes flicked to the other two men. She knew what he was thinking.

"If you use your ability to wipe their minds, it'll raise too many suspicions; I won't be able to explain it. I take full responsibility for them," she assured him.

"I don't trust them," he said.

Misaki crossed her arms in irritation. "I'm telling you I'll handle it; what you're saying is that you don't trust _me_."

That was a little unfair, but she didn't care. She had no idea how she would handle it; the important thing right now was that they figure out what was going on - and that no one get hurt.

Hei exhaled slowly. "Fine," he said. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go home and see if you have any orders regarding me. If you do, come back here and…we'll figure out what to do about it."

She could tell that he wasn't happy with that plan; but he nodded in agreement, and stood.

Kouno's posture stiffened, while Saitou's hand went beneath his jacket again. Hei gave them both a cool look, then turned and lifted his shirt from the pile of clothing on the sofa.

Misaki enjoyed watching him dress almost as much as she loved watching him undress; it took great effort to keep her eyes averted now, in spite of the presence of her coworkers. Kouno swore quietly when Hei strapped on his weapons harness. Misaki picked up his empty dagger sheath, the one that he wore on his thigh, and they exchanged an embarrassed look.

"You can pick it up later," she said. He nodded, then pulled on his black trench coat, completing his transformation into the Black Reaper.

Well, he'd never truly been Li that night, she had to admit.

She stood and opened the balcony door for him. This was only the second time she'd ever had to watch him leave since the start of their relationship, and she didn't like it. Hei stepped outside, then paused, turning back.

"Misaki," he said.

"Yes?" she asked - and was caught completely by surprise when he leaned in and kissed her. It was a short kiss, but passionate and tender.

"Be careful." His eyes were dark with unspoken emotion.

"You too," she whispered; then he was gone.

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

Misaki stared out into the empty night for a long moment, slightly reeling from Hei's unexpected display of affection. Unexpected, but appreciated. _Be careful_ \- as always, there was so much more meaning in the things that he left unsaid. He would probably never say those words that she was so terrified to hear; but sometimes, she was sure she could hear their echo in the silence. She suppressed a sigh, then shut the door and turned back to her team.

"I thought I said to put that away!" she snapped.

Saitou guiltily replaced his weapon in its holster. "But Chief, he - he - " he stammered, gesturing vaguely to the door. "He could have killed you!"

"Yes, he could have." Misaki rubbed her temple in frustration. "Just like he could have killed me _every_ time I've seen him in the last few months. But I told you, I trust him not to hurt me. He won't - even though he's a contractor, he does care about me."

"Looks like you've got him wrapped around your little finger, boss," Kouno said, impressed.

"Of course I don't!"

She regretted her tone. As relaxed as she always felt around Hei, the stress of keeping their secret had been playing havoc with her emotions lately. Things had been better since the incident in the dockyard last week and they'd had that much-needed, frank conversation, but she was still finding it difficult to stay on an even keel throughout the day. And tonight definitely wasn't helping. The queasiness in her stomach was quickly being overtaken by a knot of dread at the thought that this might be the end of their relationship.

Misaki sank into the cushions of the sofa. "I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep, steadying breath. "It isn't fair of me to spring this on you both, and expect you to accept it on just my word alone - but that's what I have to do." She couldn't divulge her entire history with Hei; it was too personal, for them both.

"How long…" Kouno began, obviously unsure of whether she would welcome that line of conversation.

She didn't, of course. She wanted to tell them that her personal life was none of their business; but in this particular case, that was patently false. Because of her, they now knew the identity of BK-201, and that put them at risk. So she shrugged, resigned. "About two months, I guess. A little longer." Was that really all it had been?

"Chief, he's a contractor - you can't trust him," Saitou pressed. "No matter what kind of information he gives you, he's doing it for a reason. He must be lying to you."

"Do you think I haven't thought of that?" She was getting irritated again. "But he's proven to me more than once that I can trust him, that he'll risk his own safety for me. And anyway, our relationship is purely personal - I don't tell him anything about Section 4, and he doesn't tell me anything about his work. It's a perfectly normal relationship: we make dinner together, watch TV. Last month he helped me set up that bookcase." She indicated the tall white shelving unit in the corner, that now held all the files and notebooks that had previously been scattered in boxes around her bedroom. "It's just…we have to keep it a secret, for obvious reasons. I could lose my job over this. In fact," she added quietly, her conscience heavy, "if either of you wants to take this to the Director…I'd understand. I'd never ask you to cover up for me."

Her subordinates stood uncomfortably in front of her.

"Well…" Kouno said at last, running his fingers through his hair. "It's personal?

She nodded.

Kouno shrugged. "I guess it's not really our business then, is it Saitou?"

Saitou looked like he was going through some kind of internal struggle, but he was sincere when he said, "You can count on me, Chief."

Misaki smiled in relief. "Thanks. And I do."

"But - was it really a good idea to let him just leave like that?"

It would probably be impossible to ever convince Saitou that Hei was on her side, Misaki thought to herself. "If he comes back and kills us all, you can say _I told you so_."

The detective looked aghast at her words; of course he would never say anything like that. He probably wouldn't even think it. He was like Hei - he truly just wanted to keep her safe.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. We need to refocus - someone has apparently put a hit out on me, and it's supposed to happen tonight. What's our security?"

Saitou practically snapped to attention, obviously relieved to be back on familiar ground. "My car is downstairs. We were going to take you to the safe house and wait it out."

"While tactical teams waited here to arrest the suspect?"

The two men exchanged a glance. "We asked for back-up," Kouno said, "but the Director said that it would only cause confusion, which would allow BK-201 - or….whoever - to get away."

"So it's just the three of us?" Misaki frowned, her forehead furrowing. On the one hand, that made sense; Hei could slip away like water running through fingers, especially in a chaotic situation. But on the other hand - wouldn't it increase the odds of their arresting him, if there were more officers on site? And if Hei - or whoever - missed his chance tonight, what was to stop him from trying again?

"Well," she said, "stay alert. If someone does show up to kill me, our priority is to arrest him. Or her. I want to know who's behind this hit, and why."

Her subordinates nodded. Saitou drew his gun (after a quick look asking Misaki's permission) and took up a position by the entrance to the hall, where he could catch anyone coming in from the bedroom while still having good line of sight to the balcony door. Kouno placed himself near the front entrance and checked the charge on his taser. Would a taser have any effect on Hei at all? She would have to ask him, just out of pure curiosity. Misaki remained on the sofa; the stupid game was still running. She reached down and switched it off, then adjusted her weapon in its holster. And waited.

In the few years that her team had been together, they had done countless stakeouts together - but none so awkward as this one. Neither man would readily meet her gaze, and she could hardly look at them without flushing in embarrassment. It felt strange to have her coworkers in her home; it felt even stranger to be wearing what basically amounted to pajamas. At least her hair was tied back properly now. But even worse was the knowledge of what they had walked in on.

Misaki knew how her team regarded her. Remote and impersonal; upright and moral; married to her job. And she didn't mind, because it worked. They followed her because they respected her, they respected her because she believed in the law, and they knew that they could depend on her. So to be so suddenly revealed as a vulnerable human being who was emotionally unstable, not to mention breaking the law by having a torrid affair with a notorious, wanted criminal…embarrassing didn't quite cover it. She didn't know how she was going to recover from this. Thank god Ootsuka and Matsumoto weren't there, at least.

It was a little funny, she mused, trying to distract herself from the situation. Normally, she lived by logic and rationality; her subordinates seeing her in this light was probably just as shocking as if she'd been a contractor caught acting emotionally. Like how she'd first felt towards Hei. Everything he did was emotional and irrational, very unlike a contractor. He had a power, but she'd never even seen him pay a price. In fact if she had to guess, she would say that he _didn_ _'t_ have one.

Misaki blinked, surprised by the thought. Could that be true? He didn't have a price? She'd never heard of a contractor not having a payment…what would that mean? But it would explain his reluctance to tell her, if he didn't understand it himself.

"Chief?"

"What?" Her eyes refocused in the present, and on the worried looks her subordinates were giving her. "Sorry, I was just thinking. It's nothing. Do you -"

Before she could finish her sentence, the lights went out and the apartment was abruptly plunged into darkness.

* * *

 


	5. Chapter 5

"I'll get a flashlight!" Misaki hissed, her heart pounding as she jumped up from the sofa. "Get ready!" Shit, she should have expected this; Hei wasn't the only one who could cut the power to a building. They had exactly the amount of time it would take for someone to run up five flights of stairs from the fuse boxes in the basement. Unless the assassin had a partner.

She deftly made her way through the dark into the kitchen. Running her hands along the cupboards, she reached the narrow one next to the fridge and stood on tiptoe to pull down her heavy for-emergencies flashlight. Then she crouched down beside a cabinet to wait.

Only her building had lost power; as she waited, hardly daring to breathe, her eyes slowly adjusted to the artificial orange light bleeding in from the surrounding city. Misaki's kitchen was positioned by the front entrance, and partially open to the living room. Whether the contractor came in through the front door or the balcony, she'd see them. She saw Saitou's form in the mouth of the hallway, poised and ready. Kouno was an indistinct shape in the corner; if the door opened, he'd be hidden behind it. The only sound she could hear was a dull rushing noise - it could have been traffic from the street outside, or simply the blood pounding in her ears. She gripped the flashlight with steady hands, one finger on the switch.

 _Step_.

Misaki tensed at the sound, a subtle scraping of shoe on carpet; it'd come from right outside the door. Kouno shifted his position slightly.

_Rattle. Click._

Cool air wafted over her as the door swung open on silent hinges. Misaki realized that she was holding her breath, and forced herself to exhale as softly as possible. A black shadow entered her apartment, footsteps barely audible in cotton-soled shoes - the type that Hei always wore as the Black Reaper. The shadow took a few cautious steps beyond the threshold. Another waft of air as the figure pushed the door shut behind him.

"Now!" Misaki shouted, and switched on the flashlight. The high beam illuminated a tall, black-clad figure in a white mask, turning in surprise. Kouno made a lunge for the intruder, mini-taser in hand; but the man was already dodging. A gloved hand knocked Kouno's arm aside while its counterpart clamped down on his head. A blue glow surrounded the figure.

Misaki didn't bother to shout but rose from her crouch and flung herself bodily at the intruder's knees. She heard Saitou swear as the three of them fell in a tangled heap; the flashlight went rolling across the floor, beam flickering. Misaki kicked frantically to get out from under the contractor, and out of his reach.

"Freeze!" Saitou exclaimed as soon as Misaki was clear. He had a small penlight and his weapon trained on the contractor, who paused in a half-crouch. Kouno lay unmoving on the floor.

Misaki retrieved her flashlight, then bent cautiously to check Kouno's pulse, her gaze fixed on their prisoner.

"Chief…" Saitou began worriedly.

"He's alive," she said, eyes narrowed; then she addressed the stranger. "Who are you, and what did you do to him?"

The unknown man didn't answer. The flashlight dimmed slightly; Misaki banged it against her palm a couple of times and the light brightened again. She aimed it directly at his face - or rather, his mask. It was identical to Hei's: chalk white, with a thin red mouth and purple lightning bolt over the right eye. His trench coat was similar to Hei's as well.

"Well?" she said. "You're under arrest - you might as well start talking now."

The stranger angled his head away from the light, but still didn't answer. Misaki set the flashlight down on the counter, on end so that the beam shone straight up. It didn't replace an actual lamp, but it was better than nothing. "Saitou, call it in," she said, reaching for her gun. "We need -"

The flashlight flickered - and went out. The contractor immediately lunged at her. She didn't have time to aim, and couldn't risk shooting in the confined space. Instead, she swung her arm as hard as she could and caught the man squarely in the jaw with the barrel of her gun. He grunted in pain as he fell to the side. She could hardly see a thing now, but she heard the contractor get to his feet and dash into the living room.

"Chief!"

"I'm fine, stop him!" Misaki felt along the countertop for her flashlight. Her hand bumped against it and it fell over with a loud clunk. An echoing crash came from the living room. She snatched up the light and hit the side of it a couple of times; the beam flickered back into life. Heart pounding, Misaki shone the light towards the source of the crash.

Saitou was picking himself up from where he'd clearly tripped over the coffee table. The intruder lay a few feet away on his stomach, arm twisted behind his back and face ground into the carpet by another black-clad figure. Misaki exhaled in relief, and holstered her gun.

"Where the hell did you come from?" she demanded. She was a little irritated that he had ignored her request to go home and stay out of it; even if he _had_ caught the assassin.

"Bedroom," Hei answered simply. He wasn't wearing his mask, or his coat or his knives - was that his way of compromising with her?

Misaki's foot brushed up against something; she bent and picked it up. It was the contractor's mask. Now that she had it in her hands, she could see that it wasn't the same as Hei's - it was plastic, and had a broken elastic string on the back. Almost like a Halloween mask. But the details were right - only someone who knew exactly what Hei's mask looked like could have made it.

Saitou got to his feet; he looked questioningly at Misaki, but didn't say anything. Instead, he moved into a defensive position, gun angled down but ready to be brought up should the contractor - either contractor - try anything.

Hei pressed his knee sharply into the assassin's back. "Chief Kirihara asked you a question," he said in a low, dangerous voice. The man grunted at the pressure, but didn't answer. That was strange; it wasn't like a contractor to hold out once he'd been captured.

"Fine," Hei said levelly, his face frighteningly void of emotion. "I can force it out of you." He slowly bent back one of the man's fingers.

Misaki opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, the contractor gasped out, "You're police, you can't treat me like that." Despite his predicament, his tone was almost smug.

" _They_ _'re_ police, I'm not," Hei said, and dug his knee in harder. Misaki was horrified at the thought of Hei torturing someone on her behalf. She was going to demand that he let the man up - surely he would talk once they got him to the station - but then Hei looked up and caught her eye. He knew exactly how she would feel about coercion of a suspect. He also knew how to handle contractors.

"That's right," Misaki said, hardly believing the words even as they left her mouth. "You're not officially in police custody yet; any injuries you sustain beforehand can be explained by your resisting arrest."

Saitou looked at her as if she'd gone mad, but he kept quiet. Hei increased the pressure on the man's finger ever so slightly, and he moaned in pain. "Alright, alright!" he exclaimed in accented Japanese. "Stop! Your guy is fine, I just knocked him out. It always takes them a while to wake up from my ability."

The relief washed over Misaki. "What is your ability? Who are you?"

"Hui," the contractor said. "KN-302. I can erase memories. I don't know how much I hit your guy with, probably an hour or two."

 _The amnesia cases_ …"Who do you work for?"

The bulb of the flashlight was dimming again; even so, Misaki didn't miss the expression that flitted across Hei's face when Hui answered, "The Syndicate."

 _Who is the Syndicate?_ "Do you know why they want me dead?" The flashlight wasn't going to last much longer - damn batteries. While the contractor talked, Misaki fetched her new candles from a shelf on the bookcase and lit them on the coffee table. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Not dead," Hui said. "My orders were to frighten you. Incapacitate anyone who interfered, but ultimately escape without killing you. I was supposed to hit you while you were driving," he added almost sulkily. "It would have been easier. But you never came out and I couldn't wait around all night."

Hei twisted the contractor's arm back further. "Is that true?" he demanded. Misaki was wondering that herself; it was an odd directive.

"It's true! Check my book, I wrote it down!"

Releasing his grip on Hui's head, Hei felt the sides of his jacket. However, the first thing that he pulled out wasn't a book, but a knife. It was smaller than what Hei carried, yet the black metal, split blade was eerily familiar. Hei frowned at it, testing the weight and balance, then slipped it through his belt. Then he continued his search, this time coming up with a small moleskin notebook. He passed it wordlessly to Misaki.

Before looking at it, Misaki went to her purse and removed her handcuffs. "Here," she said, tossing them to Hei. He caught them easily, then snapped the cuffs around the contractor's wrists. "Saitou, stay on him."

The detective nodded, and trained his gun on their captive who remained lying prone on the floor. Hei stood and moved to Misaki's side as she sat on the sofa to flip through the book in the light from the candles. It was full of writing, but - "Damn it, it's in Korean."

Hei leaned in next her. He took her wrist gently and pulled her hand closer to the candlelight. "It's what he said," Hei commented, brow furrowed. He took the book from Misaki and flipped through the pages. "They're all orders."

"Why would a contractor write down his orders?" Misaki puzzled. And when did Hei learn to read Korean? She made a mental note to ask him about that later.

Hei's frown deepened as he continued to read.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The last line," Hei said quietly. "It says, _Don_ _'t talk. Just wait._ "

"What's odd about that - isn't that a standard order?"

"Most employers would expect a contractor to talk if he's captured; ordering him not to would be pointless. Even more pointless to make a record of it."

Misaki folded her arms. "Hm. He must have a good incentive to keep his mouth shut then. Can I see the knife?"

Hei removed the weapon from his belt and handed it to her. The knife was heavy, the edge sharp - it wasn't a cheap fake like the mask, and it only confirmed her suspicions. She glanced at Hei, and could tell that he was thinking the same thing.

"Who, specifically, do you get your orders from?" she asked Hui. Saitou maneuvered him into a sitting position to answer; but as the contractor turned to look at her, his eyes glazed over and his jaw went slack. Hei got up from the sofa and walked cautiously towards Hui, moving into place behind him in case he tried anything.

"What…" Misaki began - then Hui's eyes snapped back into focus.

A look of bewilderment crossed his face; he tugged at the handcuffs securing his hands behind his back. Saitou and Hei both tensed, but all the contractor did was say, "Ah, _jenjang_." Misaki didn't know any Korean, but she knew a curse when she heard it.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Well what?"

"Who gave you your orders?"

Hui shrugged. "I can't remember. Who are you?"

Hei stepped forward and gripped the contractor's lank black hair, twisting hard. "It's the truth!" Hui gasped out, face wrenched in pain. "It's my price! I forget!"

Misaki looked down at the book in her hands and sighed. _Just wait_. It made sense; if he was captured, all he had to do was keep quiet until he paid his price. He probably hadn't counted on another contractor being there to force information from him. Hopefully he'd written down more details. "Let him go," she told Hei. "I believe him."

A low moan from the entryway caught her attention. It was pretty dark in that area of the apartment, but Misaki could see the shadowy form of Kouno picking himself up. At least Hui hadn't lied about that.

"Right," she said, "time to call it in. Saitou, can I borrow your phone? But first," she met Hei's eyes, "a word?"

Hei nodded, and followed her into the dark bedroom, where the others - specifically, Hui - wouldn't be able to hear what they said.

"I'm guessing you didn't have any orders?" she said, reaching out to where she felt, rather than saw, Hei to be standing. Her hand met his chest; she splayed her fingers against the soft fabric of his shirt and felt the solid thump of his heartbeat. His hand wrapped around hers, while his other arm circled her waist and pulled her against him. Misaki pressed her cheek into his shoulder.

"No," he said softly. "Nothing."

"The Syndicate," she whispered. "That's who you work for?" He didn't answer, but the tension in his back spoke for him. She sighed. It still didn't tell her _who_ they were, but it was a start. "They obviously wanted me to think that the attacker was you. What I can't figure out is _why_. If they want me frightened, why not just send you?"

Hei was silent for a moment, stroking her back. "I don't always follow my orders," he said. "If they ordered me to move against you, I'd refuse."

"Maybe they were worried about that…I don't know. I need time to think." And sleep. Exhaustion was weighing heavily on her. "I'll call a team to pick up the contractor. We should probably get Kouno to a hospital too, just to be safe. Go home and get some sleep - looks like I'll be busy the rest of the night."

"Your men?"

"Well, it sounds as if Kouno isn't going to remember any of this anyway. And I've told you before, I trust Saitou. I think tonight will go a long way to proving to him that you aren't going to hurt me." It would be safer to wipe Saitou's memory, she knew, but she hated the thought of subjecting her subordinate to ME, just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just to protect herself. "Please."

"You're sure he won't talk?"

"As sure as it's possible to be. Yin knows about us too, remember - but I trust your judgment where she's concerned."

Hei sighed, then kissed her tenderly. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks for coming back. Even if I didn't need you." She squeezed him tightly, wanting nothing more than to stay there in his arms for the rest of the night.

"Always."

~~~~o~~~~

Contractor prisoners were kept in a special restricted holding area of the Shinjuku police station, the only one in Tokyo that was equipped to handle such suspects. The walls were reinforced with lead shielding, and there were two manual deadbolts as well as an electronic lock and alarm. In this instance, it was overkill - Hui wasn't a particularly high-risk case; as long as his hands were restrained, he couldn't hurt anyone. But it was protocol. Misaki signed him in with the night clerk.

"I'm going to have a lot of questions for you in the morning," she warned the contractor. He simply shrugged, nonplussed. Misaki sighed inwardly; all of her questions on the drive over had been met with a blank stare. He had no idea what his mission had been; he didn't even know who she was. He might have been faking it, but Misaki didn't think so. Well, she'd get his notebook translated in the morning; maybe that would have some clues.

A young officer escorted Hui down the hall to the holding cell. Misaki turned to leave, but the clerk called her back. "Chief Kirihara! This just came for you!" The man held out a fax.

"Thanks." She skimmed the cover sheet: it was a report from Astronomics. _That was fast_. Third shift supervisor Mizuta was on duty tonight; Misaki had never had a problem with his work, but enthusiasm was not a trait that he possessed. His reports typically came in at the end of the shift, unless she called to demand the information earlier. She flipped to the star activity log, and frowned. There was no mention of KN-302. Had Hui lied about his Messier code?

Misaki ran finger down the page. _23:54: BK-201, 51.4sec, amp=0.21, fq=305Hz. 01:02: BK-201, 5.2sec, amp=0.15, fq=312Hz._ There were a few more entries, all from BK-201. Very low activity levels, barely detectable, and brief - just like he'd told her about the job he'd done earlier that night. But the times…they were all from _after_ he'd arrived at her place. With the exception of the first entry (which she definitely remembered), each burst of activity had occurred while _Hui_ had been in her apartment. The realization of what she was seeing hit Misaki like a dousing of cold water. She turned on her heel and practically ran to the evidence locker.

"I need to see case number S4-20707A," she rattled off to the desk attendant.

The young woman looked her over with a critical eye - Misaki had dressed in the dark, and the shirt she'd pulled out was in desperate need of ironing - then flipped open the log book. "Sign," she said in a bored voice, then left the desk and headed back into the rows of evidence boxes.

Misaki signed the bottom line distractedly. Glancing through the doorway to make sure the attendant was still out of sight, she turned the page and skimmed through the previous entries. There was Kouno's signature, checking the evidence in for the first time last week. Then time-stamped an hour later, Misaki's name indicated that she had removed the evidence for photocopying. No one else had checked out that case number after Misaki.

The woman returned with a flat, clear plastic bag, labeled S4-20707A. A single sheet of paper was in the bag: a list of the scientific names for different species of evening primrose. But it wasn't the list that Misaki was looking at; she knew it backwards and forwards, even if it didn't yet make any sense. As she ran her eyes over the item, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the corner of the paper, which had been creased as it was placed in the bag. Misaki was always very particular about how evidence was treated, and she'd trained her team to be the same. That crease had not been caused by Misaki replacing the paper. Someone else had taken it out. Someone who had access to the evidence room, and could remove items without logging them.

"Thanks," she told the woman in a voice that was steady despite the worry spiking her blood. "That's all." She handed the bag back.

No sooner had she stepped back into the main hall, when an alarm went off.

Misaki dashed into the restricted area, gun drawn. There was no one at the clerk's desk; she headed down the hall towards the holding cell. The night clerk was there, helping a dazed and groaning officer into a sitting position. "Where's the prisoner?" she demanded.

"I don't know," the clerk said. "I heard a commotion, ran down here, and found Fujimoto unconscious; I pulled the alarm."

"What prisoner?" Fujimoto mumbled. More officers were rushing into the holding area now.

Misaki didn't know whether to laugh, shout, or cry. _Goddamit_. Was this just bad luck? Or was there something else going on? She returned to the main lobby just as Saitou burst in through the doors.

"Chief, the alarms - what is it?"

Misaki pushed past him and into the parking lot. "Hui escaped," she said.

"He can't have gone far," Saitou said, following at her heels. "Which direction should we start with?"

She just shook her head. "I signed him over already; he's not our responsibility any longer." A stray contractor was the least of her problems now. Misaki climbed into the passenger seat of Saitou's car. "We need to go back to the office and file our reports."

Saitou hesitated before getting in, but only for a moment. "Is there something wrong, Chief?"

Misaki debated whether she should tell him - but if she couldn't trust Saitou, then she couldn't trust anyone in Section 4. "I think we have a mole, either in Astronomics or headquarters. Probably both."

Saitou's knuckles whitened as his grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Why do you think that?"

"I've suspected it for a while, but tonight…the Astronomics report was falsified. Hui escaped; he probably had help getting out. And this whole assassination job…" She gazed out the window at the passing city as she thought. "Last week in the dockyard, Hei gave me that list of names. You don't remember because he erased your memory, but anyone else who happened to be watching would have seen BK-201 cooperating with the police in exchange for being allowed to go free. Someone sent an assassin after me who I was supposed to believe was BK-201 - he had the right mask, the same knife, and he can erase memories. Astronomics' data showed no record of any star but BK-201 being active; and Hui admitted that he wasn't supposed to kill me, or any of us. They want to frighten me, make me think that I can't trust Hei - but it doesn't sound like they know I have a personal relationship with him."

"But, the information came through the Director himself."

"Which is why we can't tell him - not yet. We can't tell anyone until we know who we can trust." Misaki rubbed her temple. This night was threatening to overwhelm her; but she just had to take things one hour at a time. Hei had given her that advice, what seemed like years ago now. "Hui wrote his orders down in his book; if he got caught, he was supposed to stay quiet until his price kicked in and he forgot. That's what we'll put in our reports - he didn't say a word, until he started talking about forgetting because of his payment. As far as we know, Hui _is_ BK-201. We need to use that story with Kouno too, for now." Kouno was getting checked over at the hospital. He seemed to have had no serious injury, beyond loss of memory - he remembered getting called in by Hourai that evening, but nothing after that.

Saitou exhaled worriedly. "Alright Chief; count on me. But what about the book?"

"I still have it…I'll ask Hei to help me translate it, there might be something in it that will shed light on what's going on. We can decide what to do next once we know more."

Her subordinate was silent for a few minutes as they drove towards the office. Then he said, "Weren't you worried when Hui broke in? When the lights went out, I was sure it was BK-201."

"No," Misaki admitted. "Honestly, it never occurred to me that it was him; and I knew as soon as I saw the intruder that it was a stranger, even with the mask. He moved nothing like Hei."

"The two of you make a good team," Saitou said stiffly.

Misaki considered that. "I guess we do," she said. "But all four of us worked well together tonight." It was strange, but true.

"He really cares about you."

The detective's tone of disbelief rankled. "Is it so hard to believe someone cares about me?" Misaki asked uncharitably.

"Of course not - I didn't mean - "

"That was a joke. I'm sorry - don't worry about it." God, she needed sleep.

~~~~o~~~~

Just after dawn, Misaki finally returned home to the faint scent of cherry blossoms. The clock on her stove was blinking, which was a good sign. She plugged in her phone charger and was happy to see that power had been restored to the building. It was about the only thing that had gone right that night. She figured that she could squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep before heading back to the office. Misaki was no stranger to all-nighters, and normally she would have just fixed a big pot of coffee and powered through - but today she was absolutely dead on her feet, and knew that it would be stupid to try and stay awake.

She wished that Hei could have stayed with her. Aside from wanting the comfort of his presence, she needed to talk to him. If his employers - this Syndicate - didn't already suspect their relationship, they would soon. And the thought that she couldn't even trust the _police_ was devastating. It was like learning that the solid floor she'd depended on to hold her up her entire life wasn't concrete, but quicksand.

After checking to be sure that her phone was charging, she dropped her jacket onto the kitchen counter and went into her bedroom. And paused. Something about the room felt off, and it took Misaki a moment to figure out what it was; then she noticed that her bed had been made, the gray-blue duvet no longer lying crumpled on the floor but instead smoothed neatly atop the sheets.

And that wasn't all. As she stepped closer, she saw that Hei's dagger was propped up against the pillow. Lying across it was a single, long-stemmed red rose.

Misaki picked the rose up delicately, fingering the thin black ribbon tied beneath the blossom. She touched the petals softly to her lips, and smiled.

* * *

_fin_


End file.
